Antonio Tajani
On November 25 and 26, the G7 Foreign Ministerial will take place in Fiuggi – Anagni. It will be the last in-person Foreign Ministers’ meeting organized by the Italian Presidency. The Ministerial will take place in conjunction with the Mediterranean Dialogues in Rome. It is no coincidence that these two events are taking place at the same time, given that the Mediterranean is at the center of global foreign policy dynamics, today more than ever.
Promoting the stability in the Middle East has been an utmost priority of the Italian G7 Presidency. Last October, Prime Minister Meloni travelled to Lebanon, while in my capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs I carried out a mission in Israel and Palestine. Our priorities are clear: reach a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon; achieve the release of all hostages; facilitate access and delivery of humanitarian aid; avoid the widening of the conflict. We fully support the mediation efforts carried out over the last year by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. During the State Visit of His Highness the Emir of Qatar to Rome in last October, we reaffirmed our joint support for dialogue and diplomacy, underlining the need to promote a credible political process for the lasting stability of the region based on the “Two-state solution”.
We believe that no durable political solution to the crisis in the Middle East can be achieved without the involvement of key actors in the region. In this spirit, at the G7 Development Ministerial in Pescara, in October, I promoted a humanitarian conference attended by representatives from Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Further discussions will now take place at the next G7 Foreign Minister Meeting in Fiuggi-Anagni, where I have invited also colleagues from several Arab Countries to join, including Qatar. I hope that through our dialogue we will be able to identify solutions to relaunch the political process and to focus on concrete initiatives to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the conflict.
In this regard, the “Food for Gaza” initiative launched by Italy has been a positive example of partnership between international organizations and the private and public sectors, in order to provide humanitarian assistance. Food for Gaza is a model we intend to enhance also in view of the reconstruction process - and perhaps replicate in the future.
On important occasions our humanitarian action has been coordinated with Qatar, as demonstrated last year by the presence of a Qatari medical team on board of our ship “Vulcano”, stationed off the coast of Egypt as a field hospital to provide relief to civilians affected by the conflict.
In Fiuggi-Anagni and during the Mediterranean Dialogues in Rome, we will also devote a great deal of attention to the situation in the Red Sea, a crucial geopolitical area. Fifteen percent of global trade in goods pass through the Red Sea. How tensions affect trade routes to the Mediterranean remain a central topic in our discussions, as it was the case at the G7 Trade Ministerial in Reggio Calabria.
I trust that the G7 Foreign Ministerial in Fiuggi – Anagni will help fostering peace and stability in the wide Mediterranean area. Italy is ready to play its part also in the future, both in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, where we have been contributing over the past years to regional security and stability through the presence of our military within UNIFIL.
